


Back to Square One

by Evekle



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst and Tragedy, Everyone Needs A Hug, Give Newt a break, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Made Myself Cry, I'm Sorry, Implied Relationships, M/M, Not A Fix-It, Things spiral, What Have I Done, everyone is dying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 04:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14762687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evekle/pseuds/Evekle
Summary: Newt dies and goes back to the start. Rewatching horrors play out over and over again. It doesn't end.Requested by @Ultea on the Maze Runner Discord!





	Back to Square One

**Author's Note:**

> OK so this was never going to be written but I love time travelling to much. Especially if it has Time Travelling of any sorts. Mind you, it gets angsty and painful really fast. Things spiral. 
> 
> And Tea, hope you like this! Happy to fufill this prompt of yours!

Going back in time has never been something Newt was ever interested in. The simple idea of reliving the monsters of the past sends chills down his spine. It’s always back to square one over and over again. 

 

The first few times aren’t as bad, or as well as you can get, with feeling the Flare creep in the your veins. Newt hates it. Nothing he does ever stops the Flare from getting to him. No matter how much he  _ tries,  _ the scene in the meeting room stays the same, always. Everything blurs at the end, nothing can clearly be seen. Then, then, it’s all over. A knife to his chest, and he’s back to square one. 

 

* * *

 

Every time he dies, it’s always back to square one when Thomas first shows up in the Box. Newt sees Minho and Alby left in the Maze when Tommy doesn’t make it through the doors. Another has Tommy squashed by the doors, too slow to reach the other side. His friends die left and right, some from failing to make that jump to the Griever Hole. Others where they’re stabbed by grievers. At one point, he tries to sacrifice himself for the others, only to be reset to square one again. Gally stabs him instead of Chuck in one timeline- it’s for the best, Newt tells himself before being reset once again. 

 

On the rare cases when Newt does make it to the Scorch-it’s more times than he can think of. The Metal Ball in the facility rips the ones he cares for from his side, one by one. Back in square one. Thomas dies from dehydration, Minho from over exertion, the list goes on and on. He watches Brenda die, Jorge die.  _ Everyone.  _ There’s nothing he can do stop any of it. The world’s given him a bubble of safety, forcing him to watch the horrors play out. 

 

* * *

 

 

He dies from being mauled by Cranks. Back to square one. 

 

* * *

 

 

The desert becomes the one place he hates the most. All it does is create death. Blondie kills Tommy in one timeline, when the Berg doesn’t arrive in time, and all he wants is  _ out.  _ They don’t make it out of the desert in multiple timelines, Cranks getting to them before they’re even halfway through. Light bulb monsters, killing  _ killing  _ **_killing_ ** . It never ends. He’s stuck here every time he dies, but Newt decides that he’ll only stop if  _ every Glader  _ gets out. If he needs to sacrifice himself to get them out in the timeline, so be it. It’s not like it’s going to change anything. 

 

* * *

 

Occasionally, he’s allowed to take a breath between the timelines. It’s a white world, where no one can hear him scream and shout. He’s placed here after every death, but it isn’t the Safe Haven. It’s too white and he’s always here alone. No sight of Tommy or Minho or  _ anyone _ . These stops begin to seem like rest stops before the world tosses him into hell again. Back to square one.  _ Always  _ back to square one. Whenever he’s here, Newt just lets himself break. Admit that he can’t win in this game, it’s impossible. 

 

* * *

 

Getting to the Last City is a breath of fresh air when he makes it. There’s a six month break period but it doesn’t guarantee that he makes it, he’d rather die than to get the Flare. Yet every time it happens, it’s back to square one. Back to the Maze, where he jumps. The urge to repeat the event is strong, a voice telling him that  _ it’s not like it’s going to make a difference anyways _ . On certain days, it’s drowning, the world blanking out. So occasionally, he takes it, kills himself to avoid being a burden to the others once the Flare symptoms show up. 

 

* * *

 

 

He promised Tommy that he’ll follow the other boy anywhere in the original timeline, so when Tommy dies, he follows, a few minutes later. 

 

* * *

 

The white zone or Blank Zone as he calls it is a breather. Lasting a few minutes before snapping him into the next ring of hell. His time there ranges from a few seconds to  _ even  _ hours occasionally. Newt can’t die, never. When he does, it’s back to square one. 

 

* * *

 

 

Blank Zone. Back to square one.

 

* * *

 

 

Thomas dies from the gunshot wound from Janson. Back to square one. 

 

* * *

 

 

Newt pulls the trigger after finding out that Minho is dead. Tommy killed by Janson along the way. He can’t take this anymore. All he wants is to save his friends. Is that really such a hard wish to grant? 

 

* * *

 

The world clearly hates him, Newt concludes. He’s gone through over 10 000 timelines, all them having his hope snapped by a second. Dashed by a gunshot, a knife, a Griever. Hell, even  _ gravity  _ starts to hate him. Falling begins to become a motif of sorts. If he wants out from a timeline, it’s the way to go. Guns are also another way to go. Is having this be over so hard?

 

* * *

 

 

Victory is a terrible thing he thinks. Not only does he have to live but  _ everyone  _ he cares for also has to make it. What’s the price?  _ What’s the price?  _ **_What’s the price?_ ** The world repeats over and over again. The price of one boy? Or of everyone you care for? Newt isn’t given the choice, the world decides, instead, he has to see it happen over and over again. 

 

* * *

 

 

A knife to the chest. Back to square one. 

 

* * *

 

It’s a new timeline, and things are going well. Ben is alive, Gally doesn’t completely hate Tommy, the events are happening as they should. No need to worry. Everything is going as clockwork. It was going to be alright.

 

The Griever attack is when everything goes to hell. Everyone he knows is getting slaughtered left and right, the taste of death is everywhere. He can’t  _ see,  _ he doesn’t  _ want  _ to see what’s going on. It’s too much. All Newt wants is to be free with  _ everyone  _ in the Safe Haven. He’s not stopping before then. If he needs to kill himself a few more times in order to get it right, so be it. 

 

* * *

 

Back to square one.  

  
  
  



End file.
